A few weeks ago I headed into Vancouver to see what fall foliage I could find. This was not a stellar year for foliage around Vancouver or in the Fraser Valley, at least not in the areas where I ventured. I found some good colour in Queen Elizabeth Park, but I have photographed there a lot before. I decided to go to areas that I hadn’t really visited often after that. After going through downtown I went to Ambleside Park in West Vancouver. I had only photographed this location once, and there were promises of a decent sunset and a few subjects I wanted to photograph again with my newer, higher resolution, camera.

I had seen photographs of the pier before, but didn’t realize how close it was to Ambleside Park – probably less than a 10 minute walk from where I’d parked. On the way to the pier I photographed a few things along the beach, ships in English Bay, and the Lions Gate Bridge. When arriving at the Ambleside Fishing Pier, much of the sunset was gone but it was perfect timing for a blue hour photograph of the pier and parts of West Vancouver to the north. I had to compose around a construction crane but otherwise things went as planned. Ambleside Pier itself is a nice spot to view the surrounding area, and is set up with a table and hose to cut bait for fishing or crab traps, and to clean one’s catch.

This second photograph of Ambleside Pier is from Ambleside Beach looking west. When I visited the pier there were several groups there fishing and crabbing. One of the crabbers was waiting to pull up their trap as there was a seal hanging out in the area and apparently it is adept at raiding the traps as they come to the surface!

In my last post I showed some fall foliage I’d seen at Gatineau Park in Québec. Those images were from the southern part of Gatineau Park, so I thought with this post I’d show some of the scenes I found in the northeastern parts of the park. The fall foliage color wasn’t quite as pronounced here, but was still nice and as always adds a bit of color to a photograph that wouldn’t be quite the same with green leaves. This first photograph is the Meech Creek covered bridge in Chelsea, Québec, just within the eastern border of the park. Unlike a lot of the other covered bridges I photographed during my week in the east, this bridge doesn’t appear to have an official name and doesn’t have the year it was built posted on it. There is an information sign further up the road which indicated this bridge was built in 1932 as a Depression era make work project, but while it calls it the “Meech Creek Covered Bridge” it doesn’t appear to be as official a name as that given to some other covered bridges.

This old gravel road (Chemin Cafferty) is near the eastern edge of the park (near Autoroute 5) and eventually joins up with a trail called Cross Loop which heads to Lac Carman in Gatineau Park. I may have been standing in the exact same spot for this photo as the one below with the hay bales and the fall colours on the Gatineau hills behind. Either way, I think this photograph of the fall foliage and the gravel road disappearing into the forest – is one of my favourites of the whole trip. At least so far. The photo makes me want to walk through the trees and see what is around the corner.

On a hill just above Meech Creek and the covered bridge I saw these two men painting the bridge. An internet search reveals a lot of paintings of this bridge and the surrounding fields, so this appears to be a popular spot for painting (and photography). I’ve also seen several drone videos from the area. When I was photographing the bridge and the scenes around it there was a man flying a drone over the bridge and fields. I don’t know if it is legal to do so there, but it certainly seemed to annoy the painters! Drones seem like a lot of fun to fly and photograph with – but they certainly destroy the ambience of a nice quiet place like this one.

Painting the Meech Creek Covered Bridge

-click to enlarge-

For more of my photographs from Quebec visit my Québec Photos Collection.

A few weeks ago I was in Ottawa, Ontario visiting family and we did a lot of driving around looking for fall foliage colors and other scenery. I was there a week before peak color, but I still saw a lot of foliage that was well beyond what I’d normally see even during a great fall color year in and around Vancouver. Much of the great color was in Gatineau Park, which is just across the Ottawa river in Quebec. I’d been following Gatineau Park happenings in social media for a few weeks, and while the peak of color was the following week, we also avoided all the closed roads and crowds!

I have many photos yet to come from my trip to Ottawa, but I thought I’d start here with a few that show some of the best color I saw, but also from locations that don’t really merit their own blog post in the future. The first photograph here is from the “Beaver Pond” along the Gatineau Parkway. I couldn’t find a more official name for it, but the “Beaver Pond” is what most people seem to call it. This photograph, and the wider angle of it, show some of the reds and oranges that we rarely get (from native species) here in British Columbia.

The second photograph here was made at Lac Bourgeouis but from the side of the Champlain Parkway. I’d been to Lac Bourgeouis the day before, but these colors had improved a lot from the day before, and probably show the most interesting foliage I saw on the trip. Clearly the Maple leaves have not turned to the extent one would see at “peak” foliage color, but there are lot of reds and oranges, as well as yellow and the summer greens. I like that this photo shows the whole spectrum from summer to fall foliage.

This panorama shows off the lighter colors of the maple tree trunks with their brighter foliage above. This is another unnamed marsh/pond in Gatineau Park, but is near the “Shilly Shally Shelter” and the junction of the Lac Fortune Parkway and the Champlain Parkway. I have several (to be published later) photos of this location that show a wider perspective but I think this one shows the most interesting elements of the scene. There are some smaller conifers in this area which further contrasts it from British Columbia where they would be the dominant type of tree in a mature forest.

I have photographed the scenes I’ve found along the Lower Falls Trail on many occasions. The trail winds through the rainforest in Maple Ridge’s Golden Ears Provincial Park on the way to Lower Falls which I have also photographed many times. Lower Falls is the most popular photography spot along the Lower Falls Trail, but I think the view of the Golden Ears and Gold Creek near a bend in the creek is a close second. This first photograph here might show the third most popular spot – the “Dragon” log next to the trail. This log looks a bit like a dragon’s head, and I’ve heard many people refer to it as such. Normally there are also various rocks (like the pointed on in this photo on the end of the nose) that add to this look. There was a rock in the log for its eye when I passed the first time but it was gone when I came back and photographed it.

These overhanging Vine Maple trees (Acer circinatum) are a nice photography opportunity as well, and are the same Vine Maples you see in the first photo above of the dragon log. I did prefer the Lower Falls Trail more in the past when there was a natural trail here, and not crushed gravel, but at least the bears/cougars can hear you coming with the constant crunch crunch sound that walking makes!

These last two scenes – Red Alders (Alnus rubra) and a view of Gold Creek with Mount Nutt in the background, are near the bend in the trail/creek I mentioned earlier. When I see scenes like this one with the Alder trees I do wish they would turn a nice color in the fall. Alder leaves, sadly, just sort of go brown and fall to the ground which doesn’t really lend itself to nice fall foliage photographs. I photographed these trees at the unnamed beach that is quite popular in the summer for swimming in (the probably cold) Gold Creek.

The treehouse at Redwood Park in Surrey, BC was one of the spots I liked to visit with my parents when I was a kid. After a short walk through the woods the treehouse would appear and I always found it interesting to look at. The original treehouse (built in 1878) was constructed by Peter and David Brown, twin brothers who were given the land by their father. They planted many trees on the property instead of farming on it, and lived in the treehouse until their deaths in 1949 and 1958.

This, unfortunately, is not the same treehouse. The Surrey Parks page says this is a replica of the original treehouse that once stood here, but the sign next to it says it is a different design. Why they would erect a new treehouse that didn’t match the old one, if the old one was too rotten to repair, is not a decision I understand. However, this is still a nice park to walk through, and I still like the new treehouse. I’m sure that kids who are as old now as I was back when I first saw this are just as interested.

While the treehouse is the main attraction, there is also a grove of mature Sierra Redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum which is also known as the Giant sequoia) at Redwood Park. The Brown brothers filled the area with their favourite trees from around the world. Many of the trees here are labelled with signs bearing their common and latin names. There are a few of these species I plan on photographing this fall as well as many native Maples that look like they’ll be spectacular if the weather is right.

You can view more of my photos from the City of Surrey in my Surrey Gallery.

As you’ve probably noticed fall is my favourite season, so I’m going to post a few photos from the 2017 season before I make new ones for 2018. This is Mount Cheam that can be seen from most points in the Fraser Valley (and further west). I’ve viewed Mount Cheam from Seabird Island on many occasions but I don’t often get the right conditions for good photographs. Either the mountain is hidden behind the clouds or more frequently Maria Slough doesn’t have a lot of water in it and the reflections aren’t quite like they are above. So it was good to see great fall foliage, a clear view of the mountain, and a great reflection in Maria Slough during this stop at Seabird Island. I also have a vertical composition of this scene.

I was not aware of the name of Maria Slough until recently when it was mentioned as a potential barrier to the Mount Hicks Fire spreading onto Seabird Island. The fire has since been contained, thankfully. I’ve also had my eye on this Bigleaf Maple tree (Acer macrophyllum for a few years – but was never driving by when it had good fall leaves and Maria Slough was full of water. On this day I found what I was looking for and made this panorama including the Maple tree and some of the surrounding shoreline.

Fulford Harbour on Salt Spring Island is one of the 3 areas on the island with a BC Ferries terminal (in addition to Vesuvius and Long Harbour). I photographed the Skeena Queen dropping off passengers at Fulford Harbour during my last trip there in early June. This BC Ferries route goes between Fulford Harbour and Swartz Bay (near Victoria) on Vancouver Island. I like the Fulford Harbour area – it isn’t as busy as Ganges and offers some nice views of the water from the village itself as well as from Drummond Park. Fulford also offers a cafe and bakery, a restaurant, various artist studios, and a country store. During a previous trip I photographed the historic St. Paul’s Catholic Church (1885) which is near the village.

This Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) immediately swam over when it saw me standing near the shoreline. I presume people feed the small population of the non-native Swans here and this one was heading over for a free snack. It wasn’t going to get anything from me, but I did take the opportunity to make a photograph. This was right near the outflow of Fulford Creek into Fulford Harbour which is probably a good place to forage for tasty morsels in a more natural way.

I made this photograph of Fulford Creek near the old site of the Fulford Inn. Fulford Creek is home to one of the the largest salmon runs in the Southern Gulf Islands. Home to Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chum (O. keta) Salmon as well as Cutthroat Trout (O. clarkii) the creek fish populations are threatened mostly due to low water flows in the summer. I had just photographed the ferry above and failed to judge when the disembarking traffic was going to be going by, so I was stuck on the wrong side of the road for a while before I could get back to my car!

I’ve been on a number of ferry rides that were in really rainy or windy weather which makes roaming the deck rather uncomfortable. For my last trip to Salt Spring Island, however, it was a nice sunny day that wasn’t too warm and the winds were calm. After the first 30 minutes of my ferry trip from Tsawwassen to Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island, I spent the rest of the time walking the deck with my camera.

I was not on a direct ferry to Salt Spring Island on this trip, but on a Southern Gulf Islands route with BC Ferries that stops at a number of islands (Galiano, Mayne, and Pender) before reaching Long Harbour on Salt Spring. The first stop was Sturdies Bay on Galiano Island. I was on the deck of the BC Ferries ship Salish Eagle which provided a pretty steady platform to photograph from while we were docked. I made this panorama of Sturdies Bay after most of the cars had disembarked onto Galiano but before we had left for the next island.

Also at Sturdies Bay on Galiano were these sandstone cliffs that had a lot of interesting patterns and shapes. The house on this point has a great view but I bet things can get pretty wild in a good storm!

The next stop after Galiano was the nearby Mayne Island and the Village Bay Ferry Terminal (above). I am not sure if this was a normal delay or not, but we had to wait for about 30 minutes to dock at the Village Bay Terminal. This did give me a good chance to photograph various other BC Ferry vessels that were passing by on their way to other destinations. The photo below shows the BC Ferries vessel Spirit of British Columbia (built in 1993) navigating Trincomali Channel on the way to Victoria (Swartz Bay) from Tsawwassen. The island in the background is Prevost Island (front) with Salt Spring Island behind.

The Queen of Cumberland (below) is an Intermediate-class Ferry which left Mayne Island heading for Victoria, BC while I was still waiting to dock at Mayne Island. A lot of the ferries that travel between the various gulf islands are these smaller types of I-class ferries.

My last stop before arriving at Salt Spring Island was Otter Bay on Pender Island. While docked there I photographed the BC Ferries vessel Coastal Celebration (built in 2007) navigating Swanson Channel on the way to Tsawwassen from Victoria (Swartz Bay). Salt Spring Island (and Mount Maxwell/Baynes Peak) is in the background.

2019 Nature Calendar

I have put together some of my favourite images made in the last year into this 11"x17" (28cm x 43cm) nature calendar. Included are 12 photographs of landscape and nature scenes from British Columbia, Québec, Ontario, and Washington State.

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About Michael Russell Photography

I am a landscape and nature photographer based in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Most of my subjects are in Southwestern British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest's Washington State. My photography is available for licensing as stock, fine art prints, and giclée canvas wraps.